4 Months

We had Samuel's 4 month appointment a little late because of our trip. At 4 months, 6 days, Samuel...

weighs 15 lbs. 15 oz. (54%)
is 26 1/2" long (87%)
has a 16" head circumference (15%)

I guess I'm destined to have a tall, tiny-headed son! At least he's cute. :-)

The pediatrician also noted how super-social Samuel is, and how strong and well-balanced he is (maybe because of his little head???) He started "talking" to her as soon as she came in, and tried to stand up the entire time she was there. Such a ham!

Samuel did SO great on our trip to Arkansas. He had trouble sleeping the first night each place we went, but pretty much slept through every night thereafter. The only problem was that he consistently woke up an hour earlier than he does here, and when we moved his bedtime back, he woke up even earlier. Not very vacationy of him.

He was generally happy and fun, though he did get grouchy a few times. However, considering the time change and the fact that he missed WAY more naps than he should have, we couldn't have asked for better!

It was really fun to watch Samuel learn things this week.

The first day of the trip I put a toy bar on his car seat. He stared at it. A lot. I tried to show him how to play with the toys (spin them around, shake them, etc). He just looked. So I just shrugged it off and gave him his rattle and he was happy as a clam. Five days in, I started hearing weird noises in the back seat... It took him a while, but he finally figured out how to work the toy bar. Now he loves it!

He also kind of dropped his yelling thing he'd been doing (well, except for the night we were out with our friends at On the Border. Whoops). Instead, he decided it would be fun to start spitting. Not so much blowing bubbles or doing anything slobbery, just making a spitting noise. He liked the sound. And if anyone would spit back at him, he would go NUTS and start doing his other new thing...

Laughing/squealing. Little man has been attempting to laugh for a while now. We totally know what he means when he makes his weird gulping laugh sounds. But now he's learned how to squeal with delight instead. It's SUCH a cute sound (even if it is really loud!).

The last night of our trip and the two nights since, Samuel has started purposely rolling over from back to front in his crib. Multiple times. It's really fun for him, but, unfortunately, he has to be in the right position to turn himself back over from front to back (i.e. if his arm is in front of him, not under him, he doesn't know what to do). Unfortunately, that's resulted in a lot less sleep for me. He doesn't fuss a whole lot or anything, but I've had to go roll him back over two or three times. Silly kid.
Needless to say, we are doing LOTS of tummy time right now to get some practice!

There's probably a lot more that he's doing right now that I need to note. I figure I'll want to remember all of this later. I'm SO amazed every day at how much this kid has changed in such a short period of time! He really is a miracle!

We might be a little bit loco...

But a little bit crazy's all right, right?? 

So since my last post a week and a half ago, we bought our house (seriously, I WILL write more about that one day) and then took off for our first trip driving to Texas/Arkansas with a now-four-month-old. We spent two days in the car, survived a blowout on I-40. I was forced to enter a Wal-Mart for the first time since Samuel was born so we could get tires and to feed my sweet baby in Wal-Mart. Can you say "awkward??"

We had dinner with friends in Little Rock. 

We went out to the deer camp in the boonies with my fam. 

We went to see Eric's people in Magnolia where we took Samuel swimming and watched a TON of Food Network Star. 

We drove to Texarkana to eat dinner with some wonderful college friends. 

We ate bbq and Tex-Mex and then we got back in the car and spent two more days driving through the southern states (where I got wished a happy mother's day by a random mechanic at a gas station?? It's June). 

Now we just have to survive the moving. 

Have I mentioned how this has been the craziest month ever? 

16 Weeks

I wish I had time to write about everything that's been going on the last week or two. Things have been NUTS. But, assuming all goes well, by noon tomorrow my now-doctor hubby and I should be homeowners and on our way to visit family and friends in Arkansas. And hopefully I can finish all the packing and cleaning and laundry and maybe get some sleep between now and then?

But this post is about my sweet little Samuel.

He's such a sweet, happy little thing. I love love love him to pieces! And now he's starting to act like he loves me too, which is pretty great. :-)

At 16 weeks, Samuel weighs slightly over 15 pounds. We think he's around 25" long, though he's so wiggly it's hard to know for sure.

He sleeps from 8:30-7:45/8 nearly every night and takes naps at 9, 12 and 3 with a little catnap around 5.He has started sleeping on his side most of the time, and turns circles in his crib all night long. Occasionally he'll even go off-camera -- to the end of the crib where we can't see him on the video monitor. He's definitely learning how to get around!

He's still eating six times a day most days, including a bottle at bedtime. 

This last week has been fun as we've started putting Samuel in the Bumbo chair and in an umbrella stroller. He's been trying to sit himself up when laying down, and can actually do it pretty well when he's at an angle. 

While sitting is fun for him, STANDING is even more fun! We have to keep a close eye on him, because he'll try to stand up out of his Bumbo chair about once every 5 minutes. He far prefers standing on our laps to sitting, and LOVES jumping around. 

Samuel's been "laughing" a lot more lately, though that usually includes a conglomerate of sounds... he's still figuring that one out. :-)

He's also started using the exersaucer at the Y. It's a little overwhelming to him after a couple of minutes, but he seems to like it pretty well.

Even though he has rolled over several times, he still seems pretty uninterested in it. He accidentally rolled over from back to front in his crib a week or so ago and woke up SCREAMING. Poor baby. That had to scare him! I was a little worried that he wasn't really doing it much, but I've read several places that some kids just don't like it. He's definitely trying to get to things he wants, so I guess I shouldn't be too concerned. 

He also is still crazy about his hands... arms.. my hands... all of his toys... anything he can suck on. He actually gave himself a hickey the other day. I felt bad because it looked really gross, but I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do about it. I actually was afraid he might be teething for a little while since he's drooling alot more also, but I think he is just getting better at getting things to his mouth. 

It's so crazy how much this kid has grown, and how much like a KID he is now. He grabs things, can shake his rattle for several minutes, actually seems to like toys... It's hard to believe he was soooo teeny just a few weeks ago! He's SO fun right now, though, and I wouldn't trade this time for anything!! :-) 

Photobomb.

Talking to Jamie tonight reminded me that I haven't been posting our weekly pictures lately. Seems like it's about time!

And here's a few other random pictures because, hey, I think my kid is pretty cute. Haha.(Also, I didn't want to post bathtime pictures on facebook).

Hanging out with Grammy. 

Late nights + early mornings.

Samuel's unswaddled sleeping positions are pretty entertaining. 

Sweet sleepy baby. 

(Does anyone know how to rotate pictures on blogger? They're the right direction on my hard drive but often seem to upload wrong...)

Now seriously, is he not one of the cutest babies ever??

I'm a little biased though... :-)

[First!] Mother's Day

I didn't realize when I became a mom that it meant I basically get another holiday. Mother's Day felt like my  birthday all over again!!

Of course, some things are a little different when your child is 3 months old. For instance, Samuel decided to celebrate by waking up about 4 times in the middle of the night. Two of those he put himself back to sleep, but the other two I had to go down there and pat his head for awhile to calm him down. (He might have gone back to sleep if I would have left him alone, but at 3 in the morning, 5 more minutes of crying seems like torture for BOTH of us). This whole sleep regression thing is not my favorite. Luckily, this cute little smile makes it all worth it!

Eric also made up for it by getting up early and making me a sweet breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee, complete with cute little azaleas on the plate that he picked off of our bush out front. :-) That's sweet for any husband, but it's especially sweet when you consider how much Eric HATES getting up in the morning. He didn't even eat any breakfast himself, just made it for me!

I sang in church, so I had to be there at 8 am. It was a good morning, except for the fact that the boys didn't come until 9:30, and we had a little mis-communication about Samuel's eating schedule. The poor little guy ended up not getting fed for awhile (whoops!), and I had to miss the sermon to run over to the nursery and feed him. (It's days like that that I'm glad I'm nursing. I always have the food with me!) Luckily it ended up not being a big deal at all. But I was pretty exhausted by the time service ended at 11!

After church, we all came home and napped. We had some yummy chicken for lunch, talked to our padres, rested some more, then went out for frozen yogurt. Mmm. I went for a run, hung out with my sweet boys, and enjoyed the beautiful beautiful day.

How lovely is that?

It was especially lovely when I found the notes in my Bible from last Mother's Day. I don't hang on to all my notes, but I've been keeping that one because every time I look at it, I'm reminded of God's faithfulness.

You see, last Mother's Day, Eric was working and I was at church alone. We'd been trying to get pregnant for awhile, and I was starting to feel a little hopeless, wondering if it was ever going to happen or not. The sermon was about being a godly mom, and I kept tearing up like a big baby all throughout the service, praying that I would have the opportunity to do so, and that, if that wasn't God's plan, that I would somehow be okay with that. I had no clue at that time that my sweet little Samuel was already growing inside. Five days later, we got a positive test, and eight and a half months later, we got an amazing little son!

 I am SO grateful that God saw fit to give me my sweet Samuel. I've got a lot to learn about mommy-ing,. but know He has always provided what I've needed and will continue to do so! :-)

Running! [Post-Baby]

So this is one of those posts that is really more for my own memory's sake than anything else.

I haven't always been the fittest person, but the last couple of years I have really learned to focus on taking care of my body. I only get one, after all! I've got a long way to go and I definitely cut myself a lot of slack, but I've learned little by little to make healthier eating choices, and I've made exercise a priority.

I was SO thankful when I got pregnant that I was in the best shape of my life thus far. I was even more thankful that I was able to run and exercise through my entire pregnancy. It was tough, and a LOT of days I just wanted to throw in the towel and use pregnancy as an excuse. I might have pushed myself a little too hard, but I was able to run and dance up until the day I went into labor (granted, it was a LOT slower!!).

I should point out that, even with the constant exercise, I still gained ~34 lbs. I may not have looked it, but I was pretty big!

Because I was so fit during pregnancy, I guess I expected that I would be able to bounce back super quickly and be back to my "old self" in a couple of months.

Let me clarify what I mean by that. I didn't have any crazy expectations that I would lose ALL the pregnancy weight right away or that some things wouldn't be different. I felt like I was pretty practical in my expectations, and, in most ways, I was pleasantly surprised. Things didn't change as much as I thought they would.

What I was thinking would come back quickly was my speed & endurance. Running is such a fun sport to me because it's a constant competition with myself. For 9 months, I wasn't really able to push myself, and I was SO excited to get back to my own little personal competition.

The week I found out I was pregnant, I did two "easy" 7-8 mile runs at around an 8:45 pace. At 6 months pregnant, I was still able to run 5-6 miles at around a 10 minute pace. I assumed that, with all that running, it would only take me a couple of months to get back where I was (or at least close to it) speed and distance-wise, and then I could resume my normal routine.

Wrong.

Childbirth was way easier than I expected (thank you, epidural)! And recovery wasn't all that bad either. My body looks amazingly similar to my pre-pregnancy self (except for the 6-7 extra pounds I have that I'm guessing aren't going to come off until I'm done nursing. They're pretty well distributed though). But running again has been SLOW.

 It was four weeks from the day I went into labor until I went back to the Y, about 4 1/2 before I started to jog again. And, despite my high pregnancy fitness level, I am pretty much finding that I am having to train myself all over again.

It took me a week before I was able to run a mile. At 2 months postpartum, I was able to run a slow 2 1/2-3 miles. I did my first 5K the day before Samuel's 3 month birthday. Pre-pregnancy, I could do one in about 24:30. 3 months out, it was 28:30, about 40 seconds faster than the Mistletoe Race that I ran 7 months pregnant. Yesterday I ran 5 miles in just over 50 minutes. So I'm getting there. But it's taking time.

Luckily, I know what I'm doing this time. I know that you can't do long runs at a fast pace right away. I know that I need a combination of distance and speed work. I know that I need rest time. And I know it doesn't happen overnight.

I'm planning to use this summer to train myself. It took me 9 months to get "unfit," so I guess it's reasonable for it to take 9 months to get back. Hopefully this fall I will be ready to kick some race booty.

And next time around I'll know... It just takes a little time. :-)

3 Months

It's been a wild couple of weeks.

We bought a house (more to come on that soon!)

Eric is completely done with medical school (and graduating in 12 days!)

We had a fun garage sale with friends.

My parents came to visit.

I ran my first post-preggo 5K, and we've been to numerous birthday, gender reveal, going away and just because parties (because apparently we are party people now. Ha!)

I love that things are getting busy again. Post-baby hibernation was fun, but I am NOT cut out to be stuck inside!

Samuel has been changing like CRAZY lately. It's so funny to me that things can be pretty steady for several weeks, and then, all of a sudden, it's like I have a different kid.

Baby boy started sleeping through the night (like 10+ hours) back around the end of March/beginning of April. He's always put himself to sleep really easily when we lay him in his crib at night. He's loved just laying on the floor or in his boppy and looking at things. He "talks" a lot, but has usually been pretty mellow.

Then the last two weeks happened. Samuel started unswaddling himself in the middle of the night while we were on vacation. He would break out of the swaddle and then wake up crying. I'd swaddle him back up, and he was back to dream land without any problem. But it started happening more and more, until I finally knew it was time to break him of the swaddle for good.

I started at nap time for several days. He got used to it SLOWLY. There was a lot of crying.

Then last week, he decided to roll over (at 3 months, 2 days)! It was super cute and exciting. He did it three times and hasn't done it since, but it seemed to legitimize the need to break him of his swaddle.

So a week ago we started putting him down unswaddled (well, his feet are still in the swaddle blanket, we just wrap it around his stomach). He's not a huge fan. Instead of playing in his crib for a few minutes then gently falling asleep, he's been nodding off then startling himself for the first 20-30 minutes he's down, leading to lots of crying. It's really sad. He seems to sleep pretty well once he falls asleep, but it is NO fun getting him there. I really hope he gets used to it soon!

To make matters worse, I'm pretty sure he's going through his 3 month growth spurt. The last three nights, he's woken up between 4 and 6, which he NEVER does. I've fed him and put him back down for a few more hours. He's also been way fussier during the day than normal. I knew this was coming, but I am really looking forward to him settling into his "new normal" once this little spurt is over!

On the fun side, Samuel has totally gone from a newborn to a kid in the last week or so. As I mentioned, he learned to roll over. He also has started grabbing things purposefully and shaking them. He pulled the string on his bouncer that starts the music all by himself. He's grabbed and rattled the toys on his floor mat. He's figuring things out SO quickly. It's crazy!

He also learned how to yell this week. Not scream in anger (he already knew how to do that). Just yell for fun or to let us know he wants something. It's cute, but it definitely makes things a little harder. If we're not giving him attention, he'll yell at us. He knows we can hear. LoL.

Speaking of which, he's yelling from his crib right now.... Guess nap time is over!
Until next time!